Carl Frampton is sitting on the edge of his bed, going over his 's***e year' and his hopes for the next one when there's a knock on his hotel room door. It's a man with a fridge.

He walks in, sets it down and quickly leaves to go about his business. Frampton largely lives out of a suitcase in Manchester these days and needed it to store his training meals, but the visit triggered a thought in his head.

'That man just saw me lying on the bed with two guys in the room, and one's holding a camera,' he says. 'Wonder what he's thinking right now.' The fighter laughs. It wouldn't be the first time he has caused a raised eyebrow in recent months, this former two-weight world champion who, until the past six weeks, was finding little to chuckle about in 2017.

Carl Frampton lost his world featherweight title in January and says 2017 has been a 'disaster'

The Jackal is currently living away from his family at a hotel in Manchester after a 's***e' year

His featherweight world title has gone, his bright young trainer has gone, the wise old head who described him as 'a fourth son' has gone. One was taken from him in his first career defeat against Leo Santa Cruz in January; the other two, Shane and Barry McGuigan, were given up more willingly in August in a move that shocked boxing. He has not spoken directly to either of them since.

And now he is here rebuilding himself in Manchester, living in hotels from Monday to Friday every week for the past six weeks, a sea away from his wife and two children in Belfast.

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He has a new trainer in Jamie Moore, new advisors in MTK Global, a new promoter in Frank Warren, a new TV platform in BT Sport and a new city for his training, having headed north from the McGuigan base in London. Crucially, aged 30, he also has an entirely new outlook.

'I'm so happy,' says Frampton. 'I felt a big change was needed. Sometimes you need that fresh start. The last few years I would find myself almost counting down the days until I retire from boxing.

Frampton also split with trainer Shane McGuigan, who had coached him throughout his career

Frampton was speaking exclusively to Sportsmail's Riath Al-Samarrai in his hotel room

'I used to think if I was boxing at 33 I'd be pretty annoyed at myself. But now I think, "Why not at 35 if I am still fresh like I feel now?" It's something I haven't really mentioned to anyone, but with this new link-up I think I could.'

The next marker point is his fight against Horacio Garcia on November 18 in Belfast, his first fight since he suffered that majority decision loss to Santa Cruz in January. From there, his goals are simple: 'Win back the world title, beat the best, have a far better year than this one.'

A better year than this one — it is an aim that he will repeat over and again. It has been quite something for Frampton, who was named by Ring magazine as the best fighter of 2016 but who describes 2017 with a single word: 'S***e.'

One thing was the loss in Las Vegas to Santa Cruz. What followed, however, was a succession of big, small and bizarre setbacks, which most notably included the failure to stage a major homecoming fight at Windsor Park and the collapse of his bout with Andres Gutierrez in July, after the Mexican slipped in the shower on the eve of the fight and broke two teeth.

The Jackal was named by Ring magazine as the best fighter of 2016 but his 2017 was 's***e'

Frampton suffered his first career defeat and lost his world title against Leo Santa Cruz (right)

Yet only those who truly knew him might have predicted the split from the McGuigans, born from a belief that to 'get the big fights I had to completely change things'.

His apparent doubt that the McGuigans could continue to deliver the kind of nights he wanted has brought an end to a relationship that had always seemed deeper than most in boxing.

Their narrative was a great one built on parallels. Barry McGuigan united Northern Ireland with his fists and deeds, the Catholic who married a Protestant; Frampton was his successor as the great, intelligent fighting talent, the Protestant who married a Catholic.

In a sport that is frequently dirty, this always felt more wholesome, an image built on brilliant nuggets of detail like one tale that McGuigan Snr would visit an ancient order of nuns before each Frampton fight and offer up bread and milk in return for their prayers.

'We were very close, especially at the start,' Frampton says. 'We had a lot of connection, a lot of things were very similar in our lives. There was friendship.

'But this was the best decision for me and my family. For once in my career I am starting to think selfishly. Before, I have always done what is asked of me by everyone. But now I am thinking about what is best for me, my wife and our children. It wasn't an easy decision. But I think it was the right one.'

The Northern Irishman is now trained by ex-light-middleweight European king Jamie Moore

Frampton headlines a show in his native Belfast in November when he fights Horacio Garcia

Asked if there is any level of friendship now, he says: 'I don't want to answer that, to be honest.'

Frampton has been rapid in building a new team.

'With Jamie (Moore, the former light-middleweight European champion) I always liked him as a pundit on TV, and he always struck me as very knowledgeable. It was my dad who suggested him on the phone one day and it made me think and so I sent Jamie a message on Twitter,' Frampton says.

'I had wanted to see Adam Booth and Ismael Salas, two brilliant trainers, but after one meeting with Jamie I knew. And it has been great. I get on a 10.30am flight (from Belfast to Manchester) each Monday, I'm in the gym by 12 and enjoying what I do again. It is a different approach, a different city, it feels new. Exciting, you know?'

From a marketing perspective, Frampton will surely benefit from the vast resources and platforms of BT Sport. 'On Sky, Anthony Joshua is one of the biggest names in world sport,' Frampton says. 'He is their spearhead. I want to be the spearhead on BT. That's important.

'Like I said, as a package the whole thing is exciting. Very exciting. And to be honest, that's a good feeling after this year I've had.'

After spending 2017 on ice, it will be fascinating to see what kind of fighter emerges from the hotel room.

Watch Carl Frampton vs Horacio Garcia on on BT Sport 1 and BoxNation on November 18.